Colourist: Tamara Bonvillain, Letterer: Ariana Maher
The best thing about Justice League Unlimited is the huge roster, where Waid is able to use pretty much any hero in the DC Universe; but this issue goes one step further and shows us that no one is safe of being drawn into the action as even a civilian has to step up and help save the world.
In the last issue the terrorist group Inferno lived up to their name by setting the Amazon rainforest on fire, an action that spells doom to the entire world with the global ramifications that its destruction would bring. It also appeared to kill Swamp Thing, taking a powerful force away from our heroes. To help them combat this threat Mr Terrific has to try and find someone else who can do what Swamp Thing can do, and so reaches out to Tefé Holland, the daughter of the first Swamp Thing, Alec Holland, to help bring the rainforest back to life.
It's a pretty action packed issue, one that focuses a lot on the conflict in the amazon, and as such much of what we see has our heroes surrounded by thick smoke and flames, and so whilst there's nothing inherently bad looking about the issue (it is Dan Mora after all) it's not the most engaging looking issue of the series for me. This was only compounded for me with the use of The Green, the psychedelic plant realm that gives Tefé her powers. Things get a bit weird in places, and whilst I didn't hate it it wasn't stuff that I found particularly exciting.
Outside of the main story, however, was a subplot that was much more my thing. In previous issues we saw that Martian Manhunter left the League after losing control of himself on a mission, something that happened because a number of his psychic powers have been lost since the events of Absolute Power. This issue has Batman find J'onn, in the desert of Egypt. Those expecting Bruce to give J'onn a stern talking to, or to order him to come back to the League will be disappointed, as instead he connects with J'onn on a personal level, understanding that the loss of his powers would be like the loss of a sense, and even says out loud something that I've held as my personal opinion for years, that J'onn is the heart and soul of the League.
It's a beautiful moment, one that's nicely placed in the middle of the issue to break up the chaos that's going on on the other side of the globe, and helps to give the reader a small break from the frenetic energy that that other story has. When the series started I was unsure how Waid was going to juggle so many different characters and large casts like this, but this issue was a great example of how he does that. Even when things are chaotic, with dozens of heroes, the whole world on the line, and bits that weren't quite my taste, he can still inject these wonderful, small character focused scenes to balance it out and make it a great book.
As mentioned earlier, I wasn't keen on all of the art in the issue, but that's not due to the quality of it. Mora and Bonvillain do an amazing job at bringing everything to life, it's just that I found the scenes in the fire to be a little oppressive (which is probably what they were going for), and I've never been too keen on stuff set in The Green. It's personal taste rather than a critique of the art itself, which is absolutely beautiful.
The slowly unfolding story of Inferno feels like it's reached a key moment here, and whilst not a huge amount happens with them it feels like the League has proven to them that they can stop Inferno, and that this is going to have some repercussions to come. The issue also ends with another reminder of their spy within the League, which we've known about for a while now, and it seems like Waid has a plan for the characters that's yet to be revealed.
